


All Dreams Must End

by PaintedGlass



Series: Dreams [2]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, Loss, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 09:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5703313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedGlass/pseuds/PaintedGlass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short continuation of A Carnival Of Dreams, in tribute to a great man.</p><p> <i>'At the centre of this great field, Jareth could already see the area where the crystals grew their brightest. It was a place he refused ever to tread, though it was where he himself would end eventually, and, somewhere amongst the dazzling glow, he knew, was that of his own parents and the ancestors that had come before them. In that most special place, the magic was at its strongest. It was said that you could hear the voices of the long dead, faint but there all the same, talking and rejoicing amongst themselves forever – for how could they not? Every single crystal there had its mate, standing equally tall and proud beside them – a companion whose love and laughter would illuminate the very air surrounding them for all eternity.</i></p><p>  <i>It was the resting place of every last goblin king, and his queen.'</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	All Dreams Must End

**Author's Note:**

> For the film we all grew up with, for us, and for Bowie.

The Goblin King is dead. The man, the inspiration, the leader who all thought would rule eternal, is no more. He lies still beside her, in the bed, the last of the time they have shared for a thousand lifetimes and more.

He is old now, the king who has bound himself to her, who has given greatly of his magic, that she might join him beyond the confines of her old life - her human life. He is beautiful, even in age. Even in death.

His eyes are closed now. All she has experienced, all they have forged together, she has seen reflected in mismatched eyes of blue - eyes that have shared in her joy and laughter, her sorrow and tears, and in a love that has lasted long and long, more powerful than she ever dreamed possible. He always was the impossible - the man who defined and defied expectations for the longest time, and brought music and joy to so many people.

Those people wait outside now: their children, their children's children, and their beloved friends, all within the castle grounds; their loyal subjects who flood the city streets in their grief. These others will weep and mourn, and pay homage in what little ways they can, but this is not their time. This is their king's time - their queen's as well, for already she can feel the power slipping from her weary hands.

Those hands tremble as they rest atop those of her soulmate - her everything. He is still so warm - not dead at all, she thinks, and stifles a sob. She knows it is not true. All men must die, even he, and all dreams must end.

Then, the light comes.

It glows soft at first - a pale jewel that rests upon his brow in a circle of gleaming gold. It begins to spread at once, bathing his noble face in warmth, stealing her sorrow and what tears she might have shed in that brief time of uncertainty. Now, she knows for certain. Already, his physical form begins to take on that light.

He goes on beyond, to those pale fields where he will not fade or decay, but instead grow stronger, brighter as the years go on. His voice, the one that captures a piece of everyone's heart when first they hear it, will not die. It will whisper on, where all those who miss and mourn their king - all those nameless others, in their love - will hear it forever and ever.

She, his love, his queen, can hear it already, easing her path and her grief. It urges her not to be afraid, as her eyes begin to close at last.

He once offered her a crystal that held her dreams, and now he has granted every last one, a crystal is where they both shall live on always. With one last soft laugh, the Goblin Queen thinks that in his pride and legend, her king might shine brighter than all others.

"Wait for me, love, and rest easy," she whispers, and she knows in her heart that in his final gift, to her and to the world, he does.


End file.
